Month: Mar 2016

South Africa is such a popular foreign tourist destination we are allocating time this year to find out what we’ve overlooked here at home. We’re so often ready to explore destinations in other countrie before right here on our doorstep.

SAN Parks undoubtedly does the best job of running one of the most outstanding nature destinations in Africa. They offer such good value for money too. The rest of the country has such a diversity of everything a tourist wants. From its People, to its Mountainous areas, Arid regions, Sub tropical, Savannah and Mediterranean climatic zones. Not to mention it’s coastline of over 3000 kilometers flanked by two oceans. It’s literally a world in one country.

So let get started!

We re-entered South Africa at the Pont Drift border, through an absolutely dry, sandy Limpopo river and we headed for Louis Trichardt. Solveig walked across!
Sven and Anka crossed here before when they rode their bikes through Mashatu on a cycling safari. They used this cable car to cross the then flowing river.

Cable car across the Limpopo
You can see that the river in the background is dry.

Our plan was to traverse the northern part of the country from west to east, in the Limpopo province, which is so far from home we seldom venture there.
We enjoyed the mountain scenery in contrast to the almost flat landscape in Botswama as we travelled along the beautiful Soutpansberg range to Louis Trichard. After stocking up with provisions we headed north once again through the stunning Wyllie’s Poort with its lush forests of huge indigenous trees.

That night we camped at Tshipise. A hot spring resort we’d often heard about but never visited. A huge change from the wild camps that we are accustomed, but after all, we were exploring what was on offer in our country! The resort’s beautifully appointed with everything just perfect. The hot springs very relaxing too. The place wasn’t busy, we were grateful it wasn’t the July holidays, their peak season, as there are more than 300 sites!

The altitude dropped as we left the escarpement before reaching Pafuri in the Northern region of the Kruger Park where the air was thick and hot.
The Shingwedzi river was another big surprise. It wasn’t flowing either! The drought had left only patches of water here and there! On our previous visit here with Dukken and Rolf it was flooding its banks. Wherever water was to be found, it was crowded with animals quenching their thirst. The Kanniedood dam was empty too.

The harsh conditions were favourable to game viewing with the sparce vegetation a bonus for visitors, but unfortunate for the animals. Nevertheless it was wonderful to be back at Kruger and we enjoyed five nights at various camps.

Before continuing our homeward journey we detoured via Gauteng for a week! Visiting Eli and Shirley, family we hadn’t seen for ages. Dear friends, Noleen who once worked with us, as well as Yvonne and Boet, who live in Denokeng on a game farm! A week caught up in the rush of the Big City once again, with its trendy markets and eateries also made for a wonderful break.

We still had time to kill while our home was being rented with nowhere to go. Back to Swaziland for a few days. On the way we stopped over in Chrisiesmeer for coffee and to find a place to camp for the night.There we met Andrew Rathbone, the owner of the shop, so friendly that we ended up parking around the back of his place for the night! We’ve met the nicest and friendliest people wherever we’ve been. We’re so lucky, absolutely everywhere!